The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Bolt holes for hood springs

I have a 50 chevy 5 window that I have been doing a frame off on. I am perrty well along with it. This is my first post on stove bolt, I hope I am in the right place for this question, the fire wall was in bad shape with a million holes. I put a new pannel on it the problem is I covered up the holes for the hood spring bolts. There are two bolts per side on the fire wall. I wonder if anyone could give me some measurements so I can drill through the pannel and find the fixed nuts in the orignal fire wall. maybe it was just a senior moment. If you can help you can drop me a line at [email protected] Thanks oldcrank

Have an agile, skinny helper crawl under the dash and drill pilot holes through the captive nuts (avoiding the threads), from the inside, then carefully open them up from the outside so the bolts will pass through to the nuts.
Carl

Carl a good Idea except for, and it seems like there is always and except that won't let you do what should be easy. heater and ac in the way passenger side, wiring ,fuse panel drivers side, and a new fire wall sound deading mat glued in. Thanks anyway Carl but it is a little late. I wished I would have noticed this a little sooner.

Gregg, Unless you are a stickler for an original look, I would consider aftermarket custom hood springs and hinges. The supplier will provide a schematic guide for installation. In the
mean time maybe I can figure something out on my '50 since my hood is off. Just be patient.

Thanks Drew I will be patient. I thought about the gas filled struts but not sure if they would lift the back of the hood up like the original spring style does. There also could be a problem with length and mounting. I have the originals painted so I hope you can help.

This is a big mistake and you have to pay something for it. Carl's idea is what will work if you want original.
Try to remove what is necessary and just rotate, slide or hang parts to the side to find holes from inside. Cut a piece of the sound deadener out and patch it back. Won't hurt. Probably a lot of work, but when it's over, it's over. Study and plan some tricky ways to move the stuff out of the way. You may be surprised. If this is to traumatic, see below.

You can also determine approximately where the holes are using the bracket and some measurements provided by Drew and place the bracket at the measurements to double check, maybe just a 1"-1.5" hole saw or a square cutout will be all that is necessary at each location to expose threads. They will be covered up by the bracket. With hole saw, you will have to miss the nuts with guide drill and drill the guide drill thru both thicknesses of firewall. That means drilling off center or modify length of guide drill. Be carful not to puncture any inside cab parts. I would probably just use a drill stop and drill a bunch of small holes skin deep to create a cutout or find the threads. You will have extra thickness and that may affect hinge operation? If you want to get back to proper level, make a big cutout to clear bracket or modify bracket.

I don't believe measurements can be used to actually find the exact holes. A cutout or hole saw cutout is the answer to expose them.

The goofier ideas are:(got these from Carl)
Abandon old threads and
A. Weld studs onto firewall
B. Rivnuts
C. Weld bracket right to firewall.
D. Tilt front end.
E. Bottom line: I would do what Carl said. take out the seat and rig a pad to lay on.

I don't have any AD trucks so I'm probably off base.

You are right shop shark I will never get a perfect center for the holes. With measurements provided by Drew I should get close and with the brackets in place I will be able to double check,and drill a small hole through the outer panel, with any luck fish around and hopefully find the nut. Enlarge the hole from there. Thanks for the suggestions if this doesn't work I will probably use one of them.

Look for a AD truck in You're area even if it's a junk in a yard .Make a template with some soft cardboard and transfer that to You're truck,than drill a pilot hole in the firewall.You can't be the only AD in Mich.


Pete

I haven't put the hood on my 49' yet and would be happy to trace a template and mail it to you. It will get you pretty much on spot.

Wrench Fetcher that would be great,I know it would be hard to get any accurate measurements since there is not much to measure off of. I need to explain something to every one who has posted. I am not GreggBuff, I had never posted before but had joined a year or so ago. I had written down what I had thought was my handle oldcrank and had forgotten my password, well oldcrank happened to be GreggBuffs handle and to make a long story short and contacting stovebolt and some confusion on my part it is straighten out. my handle is old gray 1. Sorry Gregg if this was any in convince to you and any one else. So Mr. Wrench Fetcher I would really appreciate your offer. Mail to Ray Sinnett P.O. Box 475, Kalama,Washington 98625 Thanks vey much.

Old Gray: It is better to refer to someone by "handle" also. Like bartamos or btzguy. The title under their name is just a indication of how much they post on here.
You are correct about nothing to measure off of. A template needs a "reference", either a point, edge or other hole indicated on the template so that it is put in the same place on both trucks. In your case, all your other factory firewall holes are covered up I guess. As Pete says: finding another truck in your area is best so you can make the template yourself and find a common place that is still available on your truck. Just my 2 cents.

Drew if you could email the pictures to me at [email protected] that might be all I need to feel more comfortable about drilling the holes. I want to thank every body for there concern and help. This is truly a great site, I never thought I would get such a response. I don't think I have ever posted anything on any web site before,when I learn my way around this site maybe I can post some pictures of what I have been working on and tell you folks a little about it. Thanks to all

Old gray1, the DIY Forum is the place to start a "build" thread and you can add to it as you make progress. A lot of us like to read as your project moves along. You can still ask the questions in the garage forums but it gives you, and us, a central place to follow along with you and Peggy, or a volunteer, can put your story, and a picture, into the Gallery Photo's. Just a thought.....